Glass Dove
by DemonicShadows
Summary: based a few years after X2. Things have settled down, or have they? Someone from the past is back and he brought friends. Note: i own nothing, but my own charecters. i haveing a little format trouble so bear with!
1. Old friends, New problems

An office building, now dark and empty, holds only the janitor as he sweeps with headphones on blasting Mexican style music in his ears. Upstairs, had he been listening, he would have heard breaking glass as a green skinned man swings in and lands, crouched, on the floor.  
His hungry, dark eyes keep a sharp watch for danger. He gets up and walks to the nearest desk where he rummages through every piece of paper within sight. He slams them back on the desk and moves on to the next.  
A sudden gust of wind startles him, but it's only from the broken window. He goes back to work.  
Downstairs, the janitor pulls his arm up and talks into a device on his wrist.  
"He's here," he says in a thick German accent.  
"Right, keep him there until we can get within distance," says a voice from another device.  
He smiles, showing fang-like teeth, and starts toward the stairs. A long, blue, spade tail seems to sprout from the base of his spine as he switches off the annoying music and disappears in a thick cloud of dark smoke.  
He reappears outside the door to the offices and peers through the window with bright, golden yellow eyes. The intruder has his back to him, but he recognizes him anyway.  
His name was Toad and he worked for Magneto, who had tried a few years ago to turn all man kind into mutants for the second time. Toad was supposed to be dead, having been struck by lightning by one of his enemies, Storm.  
He placed a blue, three fingered hand on the doorknob and eased the door slowly open. He would have teleported inside, but the smoke and sound would have startled him and scared him off.  
Toad chuckled to himself as he held a folder up to his chest, rifling through the papers and, satisfied with what he saw, closed it and headed toward the window.  
He couldn't let Toad just walk away, not after he'd been trusted so soon with such an important mission. He moved bravely into sight and called out to him.  
Toad jumped slightly and ducked down, ready to fight. When he saw who it was, he couldn't help but smile a little.  
"Your the new guy, right? The one that's supposed to be really fast and tough to beat? Well, you don't look so tough to me pal, so let's find out just how fast you really are," he said with a British accent and charged.  
Toad came and went right over him as he ducked. He snapped his tail and tripped him, then wrapped it around his ankle and held him upside down.  
  
"Now who's the fastest?" he asked with a fanged grin.  
A loud crack echoed through the small room and a deep gash was cut into his tail. He yelped as he dropped Toad, who took the chance to make a break for it.  
A helicopter hovered just outside the window with a hooded figure leaning out the side. Toad took a powerful leap and landed beside the figure with a taunting smile.  
"You may be faster pal, but I've got better friends," he said as the pilot pulled the helicopter away from the building and into the night.  
The only thing that remained of that night was his wounded tail, a few scattered papers and a ninja throwing star with his blood on it.  
  
********  
  
The next morning, his friends were less then impressed.  
Scott Summers paced the room angrily as they waited for the others. Kurt Wagner watched his friend pace with a deep feeling that he'd betrayed him and the others. He was perched atop a bookcase with his tail hanging over the edge with a fresh bandage, applied by none other then Storm herself.  
The door opened as Ororo Munroe, or Storm as some called her, entered with Professor Xavier behind her.  
Scott approached the Professor, who held up his hand before he could say anything.  
"Scott I know your angry, but please wait for Logan," he said in his 'smooth as honey' voice.  
Kurt hated the fact that they were all going to yell at him about how much he'd messed up, but he figured it was better to be present for it then have them say it all without him. He sighed sadly and caught the attention of Ororo.  
She gave him a hopeful smile as the door opened and Logan entered.  
Compared to Scott, Logan was his exact opposite. Kurt wondered briefly if Scott ever envied him.  
"Am I late?" Logan asked in a harsh, gruff voice that plainly said he didn't care either way.  
"Glad you could join us Logan," the Professor said as Logan sat and put his feet up on the table "now, about last night."  
Logan snorted.  
"Is there something you'd like to share, Logan?" the Professor asked, knowing there was.  
"The elf screwed up, what else is there to say?" he half snarled.  
Kurt's heart sank. He knew he'd messed up, but did they have to act like he couldn't hear them?  
"Toad may have gotten away, but Kurt didn't mess anything up," the Professor stated.  
"What!?" came Scott, Logan and Kurt all at once.  
"We know that Toad is, in fact, alive and that he's working for some else."  
"Why not ask Magneto where Toad is?" Scott asked.  
"I'm afraid my old friend is not aware anyone on his team is still living, aside from Mystique. But it wouldn't hurt to ask," the Professor said.  
~You did well for your first time, Kurt. Don't worry, with the right training you'll be able to fight with the team~ the Professor said in Kurt's head.  
"Scott, you and I will visit Eric. Ororo, you and Kurt will check the scene of the crime, find what Toad was after. Logan, I need you to stay with the children," the Professor said, switching to his leader mode.  
"That's not too difficult for you, is it?" Scott asked as he and Logan bumped into each other near the door.  
"Keep at it, Shades, and it'll be difficult for you to talk without a tongue," Logan snapped as he kept walking. 


	2. Phase 1

Ororo stood in the middle of the offices that had been a battle scene only the night before. She glanced around, then pulled her wrist close to her mouth.  
"All clear Kurt."  
With a loud crack and a puff of dark, brimstone smelling smoke, Kurt appeared. He gave a meek smile as he looked around and images of the night before came back to him.  
He felt terrible, he'd had Toad in his grasp and one of his friends surprised him. The bandage that stood out stark white against his dark blue tail remind him of his failure.  
Ororo's hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts.  
"Let's just see if we can find out what Toad was after," Ororo said, knowing what he was thinking.  
Kurt nodded slowly as he pointed out which desk Toad had been at. Ororo searched through the papers while Kurt looked over the window. Toad was a formidable foe, but there was no way he could just smash through a window without help.  
As Kurt looked closer, he noticed a strange darkness around the edges. He called Ororo over to get her opinion.  
She looked over it intently.  
"Vhat do you think?" he asked in a soft voice.  
"I'm not sure, but I think their burn marks," she said, a little baffled herself.  
"Burn marks? Vhat kind of veapon vould leave burn marks on glass?" he asked.  
"We'll ask the professor when we get back," Ororo said as she turned back to the desk and it's contents.  
Ororo tried to focus on finding what Toad had taken, but she still couldn't get over the fact that he was still alive. She was sure she'd barbecued him pretty good and the fall into the water from the height they were at didn't clear anything up either.  
As she rifled through papers and wondered if there was more to Toad then met the eye, a stack of papers fell from the desk and scattered on the floor.  
Embarrassed, she quickly tried to pick them all up when something caught her eye. She read over the document and the ones that followed in the folder. She didn't take her eyes from them even when Kurt knelt down beside her.  
"Vhat is it?"  
"I know what Toad was after." 


	3. Phase 2

Somewhere, well protected, was a plastic prison that kept a dangerous mutant, Magneto, prisoner. It had been rebuilt and reinforced after he'd smashed it up once.  
The Professor and Scott had come before, but it hadn't been a great visit. Scott, again, was left to be only a spectator, but this time he'd be ready if another fight broke out. "Charles, what a wonderful surprise, my dear, old friend," Eric greeted with open arms as he rose from where he'd been sitting "to what do I owe this visit?" "I need to talk to you about one of your, teammates, if you will," Xavier said slowly. "Which one? Sabertooth? Mystique?" "Toad," he said, cutting Eric off. "Ah, yes. Quite a mouth on that one, but loyal, very loyal. He was fried by your weather witch if I'm not mistaken," Eric said as he returned to his seat. "He was, or so we thought. Toad was spotted last night breaking into an office building in town. He took with him a folder and he had some new friends, I was wondering if you knew anything," Charles said, getting to his point. "Only what I read in the papers," Eric said dully as he pulled the paper he'd been reading back into place in front of his face. "Eric, this is serious. We need to know what they are after and stop them or else it could be catastrophic," Charles said slowly, trying to get his friend to see things his way. "Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers to?" he asked as he lowered the paper and looked Xavier in the eye "what happened to your hope, old friend? Don't tell me those humans have already taken it away." With a sad sigh, Charles returned to Scott and on toward the mansion. ********** The ride was quiet. Scott wanted to come out and ask what had happened inside, but he was afraid he'd be intruding. "Your not intruding Scott, there wasn't anything Eric knew that we didn't already," Xavier said slowly, almost wishfully. "If only I'd been there sooner," Scott hissed under his breath. He'd been thinking it ever since he arrived at the office last night to see Kurt hurt and hear Toad was gone. "It wasn't your fault Scott, you did all you could," the professor said, although he didn't sound to convincing himself. "I could have done more, I could have helped," he started. "There was nothing more you could have done then what you did," Charles said as he looked toward Scott and dropped to a quieter tone "capturing Toad wouldn't have brought Jean back." 


	4. A Troubled Wolf

With the departure of the professor and most of the Xmen, the children were less then calm and quiet, much to Logan's displeasure. He sat in the kitchen with a half empty beer, snarling to himself about the growing migraine between his eyes. The kitchen door suddenly swung open behind him. He sat without even a flinch. A teenage girl with dark brown hair and white bangs came and sat beside him. She had long gloves on her hands that reached to her elbows, a long sleeve shirt that covered the rest of her arms and jeans. "Hey, kid," Logan greeted without even looking at her. "Hey, Logan. Um..didn't the professor leave you in charge?" Rogue asked, slowly. Logan nodded as he took another long drink of his beer. "Shouldn't you be watching the kids then?" Logan half smiled. He'd been stuck as baby-sitter before, but things hadn't exactly gone according to plan. He'd given up trying to be 'Mr. Do Right' after he'd watched Jean Gray, a doctor and former Xman, die saving the rest of the team. "Logan? Are you all right?" Rogue's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and back to reality, no matter how painful reality was. "Fine," he mumbled as he got up and went out on the deck with his beer. Rouge watched him standing there and felt for him. She wished she could make his pain go away, make him the Logan he'd once been, but the past wouldn't let him. Two girls suddenly came tearing into the kitchen in a giggle fit. One had even come right through the door. That was Kitty, Rouge's roommate. She liked to party, but she was always way too cautious. The other was Jubilee. She loved to shop and party as well, but was nearly ten times wilder then Kitty. They tried to stay quiet and when a loud crash came from the other side, they broke out in laughter. They leaned against each other as a small boy with short, dark brown hair came in. he was wearing an over-sized red sweatshirt and jeans, all were soaked. Rouge shook her head as she got up and knelt down in front of him and wiped at the small tears rolling down his face. "That wasn't very funny," he said in a shaking voice. "No, it wasn't," Rouge said as she stood and glared at her friends. "Oh, come on Rouge, it was just a little fun!" Jubilee said, wiping at her own tears from laughing. "Well do you have to pick on Jamie? He's only ten for crying out loud!" Rouge snapped. "It's not like he couldn't dry himself off or test for a trap first," Kitty said with a wave of her hand. This was true. Jamie looked small, but he had the power to make copies of himself and as many as he wanted. With that kind of power, he didn't take any crap from the older boys. Rouge shook her head at her prank playing friends and lead Jamie toward the stairs so he could change. On their way up they passed a boy with short blond hair, really short, and bright orange bangs that hung in his eyes. He was eating an apple and taking the stairs two at a time. Before Rouge could warn him, a pail of water fell on him from somewhere on the upper level. He shuddered from the cold and nearly feel down the stairs. Bolts of electricity danced around him, Rouge and Jamie uncontrollably. Ray, also known as Bezerker, could shoot bolts of electricity, but with the added water he lost control and endangered himself and others. Outside on the deck, Logan heard the cries of fear and rushed to the rescue. He stopped just outside the kitchen so as to avoid getting shocked himself. He watched helplessly, waiting for Ray to either get a grip on his power or pass out from the shear force of it all. Panting, and in a great amount of pain, Ray finally passed out on the stairs. Logan bounded up the stairs three at a time to where Rouge sat hugging Jamie close. They locked eyes and Logan knew she was safe. He looked up to see who the pranksters were and wasn't surprised to see Adam and Stanton. He motioned for them to come down and they did, very slowly. Adam, or Falcon, had enormous, white, feathered wings sprouting from his shoulders and Stanton, or Shade, had deep, purple eyes and could turn himself and anything he touched into shadow. Logan snatched the bucket from Adam and tossed it down the stairs. Both boys flinched when it hit bottom. Neither would look Logan in the eye, or anyone else for that matter. "Do you know what you could have done?" Logan said in a forced calm. They both stayed silent. "Well!?" he snapped. "We didn't mean to.." Adam started. "We were just playing around, we didn't know it was Ray on the stairs," Stanton finished. "Well thanks to your 'playing' you could have killed someone. I want you two to clean up this mess and someone get him to the infirmary," Logan said, waving toward Ray tiredly. No one moved. "Now!" he snapped. Everyone jumped and got to work. Rubbing his temples, Logan returned to the kitchen for another beer and back out to the deck where he remained in silence wishing Jean were here. 'she would have kept things under control' he thought. 


	5. The Plan is Set

Both groups soon returned to the mansion and a scene none of them were expecting. The main stairwell was soaked, burn marks scared the walls, floor and ceiling and Adam and Stanton were in the middle of it all. "What the heck happened in here?" Scott asked almost thoughtfully. "It seems Adam and Stanton were bored and were dumping water from above on the others, but they didn't expect Ray," the Professor stated as he looked down at them. "Bezerker? Where is he?" Ororo asked. "Infirmary," Stanton said with a slight shrug. Ororo hurried off to care for the wounded bolt thrower. "We didn't even mean to, and Logan just snapped," Adam said with a shudder at remembering the details. Stanton nodded, confirming his story. "I see." The Professor said as he laced his fingers together "Scott would you please fetch Logan? We have a few things to discuss about last night." Scott nodded as he walked off to find him. He didn't have far to look. He found him where he'd seated himself on the deck with about five empty beer bottles at his feet. "I thought you were watching the kids, not sun tanning," Scott said playfully. Logan stayed silent. Scott's amused smiled faded as quickly as it came. He sighed, knowing what was bugging him. Jean had loved Scott, but that didn't mean that Logan didn't have a crush on her. "Logan look.." "Now you look, I'm tired of playing the good guy. I can't take it anymore, I'm out of here tomorrow morning and I don't plan on coming back, so just leave me alone," He snarled, but to no effect. "The Professor wants you to come to the meeting about last night. If you don't that's fine, but it couldn't hurt," Scott said as he patted his shoulder and walked back inside. ******** Scott entered the Professor's office, which also served as their meeting place. Kurt was perched on a bookcase, Ororo was seated across from the Professor and Scott took a seat near her. The Professor nodded toward Ororo who looked at Kurt. He pulled a folder from the folds of his long, black, leather jacket and gripped it in his tail before handing down to Ororo. "We found this on the desk where Toad took the other folder from. It contains information from Stryker's personal files," Ororo said with accent on the name. "How'd that office get a hold of those?" came the gruff voice that belonged to Logan. "Ve think they came across it vhen they vere looking for information on Liberty Island," Kurt said. "There were papers on every desk about what happened that night," Ororo said as she dropped some on the table. "Why would they want to know about that?" Scott asked. "Why not? I mean it's kind of hard to explain what happened that night and mutants aren't exactly on mankind's good side," Logan said. "So they're after us," Scott said. "That's what we thought, until we found this," Ororo said as she laid a sheet of paper on the table. It didn't look like it belonged with the rest of the official documents. It had names, dates, times and address, at least ten. "What is it?" Logan asked. "We don't know. We figured maybe Toad dropped it in his haste or it fell from his pocket when Kurt had him upside down. Other then that, we don't know. But this name," she said as she pointed to one "appears in many of the other documents." "Water Crest?" Scott asked. "It's an abandoned orphanage on the other side of town. It could be were Toad and his friends are hiding," Ororo said as she looked to the Professor. He nodded, it was quite possible. "We'll go check it out first thing tomorrow morning," he said, looking more at Logan then anyone. ******** Everyone, children and adults alike, all drifted off toward bed. Everyone but Kurt. He hung upside down from the chandelier in his room looking at the ninja star that had been wrapped in a soft, white, cloth. The initials carved in it were SD. Kurt felt as if he knew those letters, but couldn't quite place them. He finally sighed in defeat as he teleported down and set it on his desk. He ran a finger over the letters once more before pulling the cloth back into place. "Who are you?" he asked no one, then switched off the light. ********* Outside a cloaked figure sat perched in a tree outside Kurt's window, carefully hidden among the shadows. "You'll know soon enough," came a whispered, female voice. With a turn of her cloak, she vanished into the night. 


	6. The Quiet Before the Storm

The cloaked figure dropped out of nowhere and walked up the gravel path and passed a decaying sign that read 'Water Crest' in fading sky, blue paint. She walked up to the front door that was falling off it's hinges and inside the musty old building. She lowered her hood to reveal dark, black hair, pointed ears, deep green, cat eyes and an orange face with black stripes, like that of a tiger's. Fangs protruded slightly from her mouth and her hands, also with the same tiger pattern, had nails like claws. A tiger tail wagged slowly from under her cloak. The place was covered in dust and there wasn't much left, but it was home. She walked carefully on the wooden floor until she came to a room that had been cleaned up fairly well. It was large with a couch on the far right side under a boarded up window. Other miscellaneous pieces of furniture that resembled the couch dotted the room, nearly every one had a sleeping body on it. "I was wondering when you'd be back," Came a thick, Cajun accent with a hint of French from the couch. "Any trouble?" she asked, trying to change the subject. A tall figure rose from the couch and came toward her. He wore a black T- shirt, a faded, brown leather trench coat, jeans and scuffed black boots. His auburn hair spilled over a dark, blue head band and into his eyes. His eyes were solid black with a ring of red. He glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping bodies behind him and turned back with a grin. "Never any trouble with them," he said with a sharp shuffle of the worn cards in his hands. She nodded and headed into the kitchen, which was just as bad as the rest of the place. The folder Toad had stolen and it's contents were strewn around the counter space. In an attempt to keep the subject off her, she picked up a form and attempted to focus on it, but her eyes were fuzzy and wouldn't let her. He put and hand over hers and forced her to set it down. "You can't lie to me, Sydney, I know where you were," he said with an intense glare he didn't intend. "You can't tell anyone Gambit, especially not Toad, he'll through a fit," Sydney pleaded. "Don't worry," he said with a wave of his hand "I won't tell him anything, not until it gets good," he said with a smirk. "What are you planning?" Sydney asked as she pushed him playfully. "Nothing. I'm just saying, if it comes to it, the three of us could really give those Xmen a run for their money," he said with a satisfied sneer. "Well, lets hope it doesn't come to that because we don't want trouble from them or anyone else for that matter," Sydney said with a yawn. "You've been out pretty late tonight, you should get some sleep," Gambit said with another flick of his cards. Sydney nodded as she headed back into the main room with another enormous yawn. She found Toad curled up in his usual place. With a smile, she stroked his green tinted hair and curled up beside him under his arm. She knew that in the morning she'd have to make her move without Toad knowing or he'd start a war within the mutants. Her eyes clouded over as she drifted off only to be dragged into her nightmarish dreams. 


End file.
